BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2005--InKine Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: INKP) today announced that it has earned a $1.0 million milestone payment from Zeria Pharmaceutical Company, LTD., InKine's licensee for sodium phosphate tablets for use as a colonic purgative, bowel cleansing agent or laxative for sale in Japan. Under the terms of the license agreement, $1.0 million was payable to the Company upon the submission of a new drug application to Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW) for the licensed product. An additional milestone will be payable to InKine under the license upon the MHLW approval of a new drug application for the licensed product. Under the terms of the Company's license, the ALW Partnership, the owners of the Visicol(R) patent, shall receive a royalty from InKine in the amount of $300,000 as a result of the Zeria milestone payment.
"Development milestone payments such as these represent the continuing realization of our global strategy to create collaborations to fully maximize the value of Visicol(R)," said Leonard S. Jacob, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of InKine. "We are delighted to work with our collaborators to effectively deliver our products to patients around the world," added Dr. Jacob.